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2 Learning outcomesUnderstand how white collar crime is defined and the problems arising from that definitionAppreciate the dynamic nature of the changing definitionsUnderstand the variety and number of the motivational theories propounded in this area and their genesis

3 Defining white collar crimeDifferent to street crime as it is obscured and innocuous.Street crimes are committed by confronting victims or entering their homesWhite collar crimes are committed by guile, deceit, or misrepresentation

4 Defining white collar crimeBegan to be differentiated in the early 1900’sFor example Ross (1907) “criminaloids”The villain most in need of curbing is the respectable exemplary trusted personage who ... is able from his office chair to pick a thousand pockets, poison a thousand sick, pollute a thousand minds, or imperil a thousand lives

5 Defining white collar crimeNot to do with povertyNot to do with social pathologyNot to do with physical or psychological pathology‘crime committed by a person of high status and respectability in the course of his occupation’ (Sutherland 1949)

6 Defining white-collar crimeWhite-collar crime may be defined approximately as a crime committed by a person of respectability and high status in the course of his occupation. . . the financial cost of white-collar crime is probably several times as great as the financial cost of all the crimes which are customarily regarded as the crime problem. (Sutherland)

7 Problems with defining white-collar crimeHigh-status offender?Definitional ambiguityLittle distinction between crimes committed by businesses and crimes carried out against an organisation‘crime committed in the course of legitimate employment involving the abuse of an occupational role’ (Croall 1992)

8 ‘if it can be shown that white collar crimes are frequent, a general theory that crime is to do with poverty and its related pathologies is shown to be invalid’(Sutherland 1949)

9 DefinitionalBecause of this definitional difficulty Clinard and Quinney (1967) suggested replacing the term white collar crime with two constitutive terms “corporate” and “occupational” crime“Crimes of the middle classes” Weisburd et al (1991)

14 Why are corporate crimes different ?Offences tend to be invisibleThe acts/offences tend to be very complexThere often is no one offenderMay be no victim or many victimsAmbiguous criminal status e.g proof of intent

15 Criminology of White Collar CrimeNo general theory of crime existsSuch a theory would be able to explain not only different crimes but provide similar reasons why males, females, minorities and non-minorities commit crime.Number of master concepts around disciplinary schools: Biology, psychology, sociology

16 Criminology of White Collar CrimeBiology discredited e.g. physical manifestations such as facial appearancePsychological theories for general crime;Childhood traumaPersonality traits most studied: risk taking, recklessness. Characterised by Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) – Low Self Control theory: argued as first six years of life which matterPunch (2000) argues egocentricity is best explanation, within WCC this is over the top bordering on paranoid meglomania

17 Criminology of White Collar CrimeSociological approaches centre around idea of relative deprivationSense of envy or jealousy about what other people haveDifferent to absolute deprivation instead of deep anger, produces brooding “get even” type of resentmentAnother area is the idea of deviant organisational culture and networks

19 Shover and Hochstetler (2006)Concept of rational choiceBelieved to explain significant variation in all crimes across time, space, populations and individualsAssumes that “when punishment is not only uncertain but altogether improbable, crime rises precipitously”

20 Criminology of White Collar CrimeTraditional criminological theories applied to WCCSocial control theory: assumes pre-motivated offenders but based upon weakness in social bonds.Learning theory

21 Edwin Sutherland Theory of differential association:Criminal behaviour is learned not inheritedLearned in interaction with other personsCarried out within intimate personal groups (ie not from impersonal activities such as films or TV)Not just techniques that are learned but motivations and rationalisations

22 Edwin SutherlandDirection of motives and drives is learned from definition of legal codes as favourable or unfavourablePerson becomes delinquent when has an excess of definitions favourable to law violation contrasted with definitions unfavourable to violation

23 Criminology of White Collar CrimeTraditional criminological theories applied to WCCStrain theory: holds that even good people commit crime when they become confused about the goals and means of material successLabelling theory: sensitising concepts/symbolic meanings/identity processes

24 Interactionist theoryFocus on the way in which individuals (or “social actors”) act rather than react to social stimulationThe way “social actors” interpret behaviour is significant as a means of understanding the way the world is socially constructedThis construction focuses upon meanings people give to behaviourExample of traffic lights social constructGo through red wrong/illegal unless…If this is so then concept of crime is socially constructed

25 Interactionist theoryThe ability to develop shared meanings is the key to understanding human interaction. Our ability to think means what we effectively do, according to Interactionists, is to create a sense of society and culture in our minds. We behave "as if" these things physically exist.Thus, the world humans inhabit is a social construction. This involves the idea that society is a product of our ability to think and express our thoughts symbolically. The things that we recognise as being "part of our society" or "part of our culture" are simply products of our mind.

26 Interactionist theorySociety is an elaborate fiction we create to help us make sense of our relationships and impose some sort of order on them.We create this fictional universe to make social life possible, since without a sense of shared meanings about what we see and do, interaction would, at best, be very difficult and, at worst, impossible.Cultures, therefore, represent the general store of shared meanings that people create to give them a feeling of having things in common and as the basis for constructive social interaction.

27 Interactionist theoryFor example, think of any dealings you have had with people who do not behave in ways that conform to your cultural expectations.People who are drunk, for example, frequently fail to observe expected cultural norms and this makes it very difficult for us to interact with them on anything but a very basic level of understanding.

28 Interactionist theoryIn simple terms, therefore, we have to consider the process whereby individuals "agree to agree" about what they are doing (the purpose of interaction) and why they are doing it (the meaning of interaction).Interactionists generally start to explain this process by referring to the concept of a definition of the situation.How we define a situation affects how we behave when we are in that situation.

29 Interactionist theoryThus, when someone we meet reveals one of their social labels to us ("I'm an accountant", for example) we mentally "open the box" that contains our store of knowledge about “accountants".

30 Interactionist Theory of MotivationInteractionist theory seems well suited to white collar crimeInteractionists see motivation as a symbolic construct ie. the meaning that individuals attribute to a particular situation

31 Interactionist Theory of MotivationThis meaning of their social reality in general structures their experience.It makes certain courses of action seem appropriate while others are excluded.Cressey (1953) found that embezzlers “adjust” the symbolic construction of their behaviour to fit societal expectations

32 RationalisationsRationalisations are not after the fact but an integral part of an “actor’s” motivation (most common are)Just borrowing the moneyDenial of harm ie. No-one gets hurtUnjust laws ie. Government interferenceAct necessary to achieve economic goal or to survive ie. therefore must comply especially in work environmentTransfer of responsibility ie everyone is doing itDeserve the money

33 ColemanInteractionists argue that symbolic constructs are learned from association with others ie back to Sutherland’s differential association theoryColeman argues that the interactionist theory does not explain the motivations of white collar crimeLooks to modern industrial capitalism as a factor

34 Culture of CompetitionThe idea that wealth and success are central goals of human endeavour is part of a larger complex of beliefs that may be termed the “culture of competition”The pursuit of economic self interest and the effort to surpass their fellows in the accumulation of wealth and status are of critical importance to these … actors (Coleman, ibid)

35 Culture of CompetitionCreates a pervasive sense of insecurity as an undercurrent in industrial capitalismThis fear of failure permeates every stratum of contemporary society.It is a corollary of the demand for success.These factors have grown in the 21st century

36 Culture of CompetitionSome crimes result from the efforts of individuals trying to live up to expectations of associates and friends.When viewed at group level the culture of competition still appears.

37 Culture of CompetitionAnthropological studies of hunting and gathering societies find little of this acquisitive materialism we see in societyFirst such individualism noted in early days of the modern capitalist societyPreviously little surplus wealth existed

38 Normative BoundariesEthical standards for economic behaviour are easily combined at a theoretical level.However public see the contradiction between the two i.e. “nice guys finish last”Major conflict in societyLink to relative deprivation idea and anomie

39 SubculturesGiven this societal conflict there are in addition occupational subcultures presentEach complex organisation has an “ethical tone” that either reinforces or opposes the normative standards for economic behaviourIndustry subculturesOccupational subcultures which cut across industries and organisations

40 SubculturesBecause of this isolation, work related subcultures are able to maintain certain criminal activities as acceptable or recognised behaviour.GE price fixing example – they had forgotten it was illegalSubcultures can also work to positive effect

41 PunishmentThe severity of punishment for white-collar crime varies inversely with the power and influence of the typical offenderStudies show that street crimes are punished more severely than occupational crimes.Stay in nicer prisonsSame inverse relationship also applies to likelihood of prosecution